Council weighs police hires, second city attorney and contentious office-manager reclassification

Grand Island police leadership and council members spent a prolonged portion of the Aug. 21 meeting debating multiple public-safety staffing requests and a proposed reclassification for the police office manager.

Police leadership asked for several positions in the FY26 request: a police officer (step 2), 2.5 community service officer positions (two full-time and one part-time to provide animal-control and code-enforcement support), a parks maintenance irrigation specialist, and an elevated office manager role proposed as a support-services administrator. The police department additionally asked for a second city attorney in the general budget conversation and various capital items for public-safety operations.

Police Chief Kevin told the council the department is understaffed for the current workload and that adding another attorney and non-sworn executive support would reduce delays on contracts, easements and other legal work. "We can't do it as well, spend as much time, and our response time significantly drops," Chief Kevin said of the current legal staffing level. Chief Kevin said private firms quoted hourly rates from roughly $250 to $600 if the city outsourced routine legal work and that contracting routine municipal legal services would likely cost more and introduce delays.

Council debate focused most sharply on reclassifying the police office manager into a salaried support-services administrator. Council members asked whether the reclass would be posted competitively or implemented as a reclassification without opening the job to a wider field. Multiple council members expressed concern about internal equity and the size of the proposed pay change: council members said the current office-manager maximum pay is $40.11 per hour and the proposed pay for the reclass would be tied to lieutenant pay and approximate $66.23 per hour under the FY26 schedule. One councilor characterized the request as a roughly 65 percent reclass increase at top step; others said that adjusting for salaried status and overtime treatment reduces the net ongoing cost difference.

Several council members said they supported the department's organizational changes in principle but requested more time and documentation: competitive job comparisons, a clearer payoff analysis and a formal vetting process that allows qualified internal and external candidates to apply. The council's human-resources contact had earlier told the meeting HR supported the reclass and helped develop the job description; the HR director (Aaron) was attending a conference and not present to answer questions.

Capital-equipment and facility requests tied to public safety also drew discussion. Police staff and others discussed a law-enforcement firing range and options for locating it at Heartland Shooting Park instead of building a new range on the Law Enforcement Center campus. Chief Kevin summarized prior estimates: an on-campus building estimate from three years ago of about $1.9 million (escalated to roughly $2.1 million with interest), while renovating Heartland Ag to create additional office and training space is estimated at about $1.1 million. Creating a law-enforcement-only firing range at Heartland Shooting Park was presented as a collaborative option; staff said it would be scaled to departmental needs and could be developed later depending on available capital.

Why it matters: The outcome affects police response, prosecution and code-enforcement capacity, internal pay equity across city classifications and capital spending priorities for training and facilities.

Ending: Council members asked staff to supply comparative pay studies, a documented vetting plan and cost/benefit analyses for the reclass and for outsourcing legal work before any final personnel approvals are made.